Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Sleepy Stories. I'm your host, Lucy,
Speaker 1: and my friends and I will be reading you a
Speaker 1: sleepy bedtime story every week to relax you and to
Speaker 1: help you to drift off into a RESTful sleep. From
Speaker 1: time to time, we will also read you a relaxing,
Speaker 1: peaceful meditation that will take you somewhere beautiful and calming.
Speaker 1: Once we have read the stories, we will then read
Speaker 1: them a second time, but this time they will be
Speaker 1: read even slower. This will help you to relax even more.
Speaker 1: Before we begin, I would like you to close your
Speaker 1: eyes and breathe in and out nice and deeply. Take
Speaker 1: a few seconds to inhale, and then hold your breath
Speaker 1: for a few seconds more and then release and breathe out.
Speaker 1: Do this a few times if you need to. While
Speaker 1: you listen to the music and you listen to my voice,
Speaker 1: give yourself time to let your body relax and your
Speaker 1: mind settle. It's important that we allow time for us
Speaker 1: to feel safe, cozy, and completely at ease. And now
Speaker 1: it's time for this week's story.
Speaker 2: Murmur goose egg. Once upon a time, there were five
Speaker 2: women who were standing in a field mowing. Heaven had
Speaker 2: not given a single one of them a child, and
Speaker 2: each of them wanted to have one. And suddenly they
Speaker 2: saw a goose egg of quite unheard of size, well
Speaker 2: nigh as large as a man head. I saw it first,
Speaker 2: said the one I saw it at the same time
Speaker 2: that you did, insisted another. But I want it, for
Speaker 2: I saw it first of all maintained a third. And
Speaker 2: thus they went on and fought so about the egg
Speaker 2: that they nearly came to blows. Finally they agreed that
Speaker 2: it should be long to all five of them, and
Speaker 2: that all of them should sit on it as a
Speaker 2: goose would do, and hatch out the little gosling. The
Speaker 2: first remained sitting on the egg for eight days and
Speaker 2: hatched and did not move or do a thing, And
Speaker 2: during this time the rest had to feed her and
Speaker 2: themselves as well. One of them grew egg angry because
Speaker 2: of this and scolded, you did not crawl out of
Speaker 2: the egg either, before you could cry peep, said the
Speaker 2: one who was sitting on the egg and hatching. Yet
Speaker 2: I almost believe that a human child is going to
Speaker 2: slip out of the egg, for something is murmuring inside
Speaker 2: of it without ever stopping. Herring and mush porridge and milk,
Speaker 2: said she, And now you can sit on it for
Speaker 2: eight days while we bring you food. When the fifth
Speaker 2: day of the eight had passed, it was plain to
Speaker 2: her that there was a child in the egg, which
Speaker 2: kept on calling herring and mush, porridge and milk. And
Speaker 2: so she punched a hole in the egg, and instead
Speaker 2: of a gosling, out came a child. And it was
Speaker 2: quite disgustingly homely, with a big head and a small body.
Speaker 2: And no sooner had it crawled out than it began
Speaker 2: to cry harring and mush, porridge and milk. So they
Speaker 2: named the child Murmur Goose Egg. In spite of the
Speaker 2: child's homeliness, the women at first took a great deal
Speaker 2: of pleasure in him, but before long he grew so
Speaker 2: greedy that he devoured everything they had. When they cooked
Speaker 2: a dish of mush or a potful of porridge that
Speaker 2: was to do for all six of them, the child
Speaker 2: swallowed it all by himself. So they did not want
Speaker 2: to keep him any longer. I have not had a
Speaker 2: single full meal since the changeling crawled out, said one
Speaker 2: of them. And when Murmur gooseg heard that, and the
Speaker 2: rest agreed, he said that he would gladly go his
Speaker 2: own gait, for if they had no need of him,
Speaker 2: then he had no need of them. And with that
Speaker 2: he went off. Finally he came to a farmstead that
Speaker 2: lay in a rocky section and asked for work. Yes,
Speaker 2: they needed a workman, and the master told him to
Speaker 2: gather up the stones in the field. Then murmur gooseg
Speaker 2: gathered up the stones in the field. He picked up
Speaker 2: some that were so large that a number of horses
Speaker 2: could not have dragged them, and large and small one
Speaker 2: and all. He put them in his pocket. Before long
Speaker 2: he had finished his work and wanted to know what
Speaker 2: he was to do next. You have picked up the
Speaker 2: stones in the field, said his master. You cannot possibly
Speaker 2: have finished before you have really begun. But murmur Goose
Speaker 2: emptied his pockets and threw the stones on a pile.
Speaker 2: Then his master saw that he had finished his work,
Speaker 2: and that one would have to handle such a strong
Speaker 2: fellow with kid gloves, So he told him to come
Speaker 2: in and eat. That suited murmur gooseg he ate up
Speaker 2: everything that was to have supplied the master and his
Speaker 2: family and the help, and then he was only half satisfied.
Speaker 2: He was really a splendid worker, but a dangerous eater,
Speaker 2: like a bottomless cask, said the peasant. Such a serving
Speaker 2: man could eat up a poor peasant house and ground
Speaker 2: before he noticed it. Said he he had no more
Speaker 2: work for him, and the best thing to do would
Speaker 2: be to go to the King's castle. So murmur Gooseg
Speaker 2: went to the king and was at once given a place,
Speaker 2: and there was enough to eat and drink in the castle.
Speaker 2: He was to be the errand boy and help the
Speaker 2: maids fetch wood and water, and do other odd jobs.
Speaker 2: So he asked what he was to do first, for
Speaker 2: the time being, He could chop firewood, said they. So
Speaker 2: murmur Gooseg began to chop firewood and hewed to the
Speaker 2: line in such fashion that the chips fairly flew. Before
Speaker 2: long he had chopped up all that there was kindling wood,
Speaker 2: and building wood, beams and boards. And when he was
Speaker 2: through with it, he came and asked what he was
Speaker 2: to do. Now, you can finish chopping the firewood, said they.
Speaker 2: There is none left, said murmur Gooseg. That could not
Speaker 2: be possible, said the superintendent, and looked into the woodpin. Yes, indeed,
Speaker 2: murmur Goosegg had chopped up everything large and small, beams
Speaker 2: and boards. That was very bad. And therefore the superintendent
Speaker 2: said that Murmur Gooseg should have nothing to eat until
Speaker 2: he had chopped down just as much wood in the
Speaker 2: forest as he had just chopped up for firewood. Then
Speaker 2: Murmur Gooseg went into the smithy and had the smith
Speaker 2: make an iron axe of five hundred weights. With that,
Speaker 2: he went into the forest and began to chop. He
Speaker 2: chopped down big pine and fir trees as thick as masts,
Speaker 2: and all that he found on the King's ground, as
Speaker 2: well as what he had found on that of his neighbors.
Speaker 2: He chopped down big pine and fir trees as thick
Speaker 2: as masts, and all that he found on the King's ground,
Speaker 2: as well as what he found on that of his neighbors.
Speaker 2: But he cut off neither the branches nor the tree tops,
Speaker 2: so that all lay there as though felled by the storm.
Speaker 2: Then he loaded a sizeable stack on the sled and
Speaker 2: put to the horses. They could not move the load
Speaker 2: from the spot, and when he took them by the
Speaker 2: heads in order to pull them forward, he tore off
Speaker 2: their heads. So he unharnessed them and left them lying
Speaker 2: in the field and put himself to the sled and
Speaker 2: went off alone with the load. When he came to
Speaker 2: the king's castle, there stood the King with the master
Speaker 2: carpenter in the entrance, and they were ready to give
Speaker 2: him a warm reception because of the destruction he had walked,
Speaker 2: because of the destruction he had wrought in the forest,
Speaker 2: for the master carpenter had been there and had seen
Speaker 2: the havoc he made. But when Murmur Goosey came came
Speaker 2: along with half the forest, the king grew frightened as
Speaker 2: well as angry, and he thought that if Murmur was
Speaker 2: so strong, it would be best to handle him with care.
Speaker 2: Why you are a splendid workman, said the king, But
Speaker 2: tell me how much do you really eat at once?
Speaker 2: He continued, for I am sure you are hungry. If
Speaker 2: he were to have enough porridge, they would have to
Speaker 2: take twelve tons of meal to make it. But after
Speaker 2: he had eaten that, then he could wait. Awhile, said
Speaker 2: Murmur goose Egg. It took some time before so much
Speaker 2: porridge could be prepared, and in the meantime Murmur was
Speaker 2: to carry wood into the kitchen, so he piled the
Speaker 2: whole load of wood on a sled, But when he
Speaker 2: drove it through the door, he did not go to
Speaker 2: work about it very gently. The house nearly broke from
Speaker 2: its joints, and he well nigh tore down the entire castle.
Speaker 2: When at last dinner was ready, they sent him out
Speaker 2: into the field to call the help. He called so
Speaker 2: loudly that hill and vale re echoed the sound. But
Speaker 2: still the people did not come quick enough to suit him.
Speaker 2: So he picked a quarrel with them and killed twelve.
Speaker 2: You killed twelve of my people, and you eat for
Speaker 2: twelve times twelve of them. But how many men's work
Speaker 2: can you do? Asked the king. I'd do the work
Speaker 2: of twelve times twelve two, said Murmur. When he had eaten,
Speaker 2: he was to go to the barn and thresh. So
Speaker 2: he pulled the beam out of the roof tree and
Speaker 2: made a flail out of it, And when the roof
Speaker 2: threatened to fall in, he took a pine tree with
Speaker 2: all its boughs and branches and set it up in
Speaker 2: place of the roof beam. He then threshed corn and
Speaker 2: hay and straw all together, and it seemed as though
Speaker 2: a cloud hung over the royal castle. When Murmur Gooseg
Speaker 2: had nearly finished threshing. The enemy broke into the land
Speaker 2: and war began. Then the king told him to gather
Speaker 2: people about him and go to meet the foe and
Speaker 2: do battle with him, for he thought the enemy would
Speaker 2: probably kill him. No, said Murmur Gooseg. He did not
Speaker 2: want to have the king's people kill He would see
Speaker 2: that he dealt with the enemy himself. All the better,
Speaker 2: thought the king. Then I am sure to get rid
Speaker 2: of him. But he would need a proper club, said
Speaker 2: murmur So they sent to the smith, and he forged
Speaker 2: a club of two hundred weights. That would only do
Speaker 2: for a nutcracker, said murmur Gooseg. So he forged another
Speaker 2: that weighed six hundred weights, and that would do to
Speaker 2: hammer shoes with, said Murmur Gooseg. But the smith told
Speaker 2: him that he and all his workmen together could not
Speaker 2: forge a larger one. Then Murmur Gooseg went to the
Speaker 2: smithy himself and forged himself a club of thirty hundred weights,
Speaker 2: And it would have taken a hundred men just to
Speaker 2: turn it around on the anvil. This might do at
Speaker 2: a pinch, said murmur Then he wanted a knapsack with provisions.
Speaker 2: It was sewn together out of fifteen ox skins and
Speaker 2: stuffed full of provisions. And then Murmur wandered down the
Speaker 2: hill with the knapsack on his back and the club
Speaker 2: over his shoulder. When he came near enough for the
Speaker 2: soldiers to see him, they sent to ask whether he
Speaker 2: had a mind to attack them. Just wait until I
Speaker 2: have eaten, said Murmur, and sat him down behind his
Speaker 2: knapsack to eat. But the enemy would not wait and
Speaker 2: began to fire at him, and it fairly rained and
Speaker 2: hailed musket balls all around Murmur. I don't care a
Speaker 2: fig for these blueberries, said Murmur, gooseag and feasted on
Speaker 2: quite at ease. Neither lead nor iron could wound him,
Speaker 2: and his knapsack stood before him and caught the bullets
Speaker 2: like a wall. Then the enemy began to throw bombs
Speaker 2: at him and shoot him with a cannon. He hardly
Speaker 2: moved when he was struck. Oh that's of no account,
Speaker 2: said he. But then a bomb flew into his windpipe, faugh,
Speaker 2: said he, and spat it out again. And then came
Speaker 2: a chain bullet and fell into his butter plate, and
Speaker 2: another tore away the bit of bread from between his fingers.
Speaker 2: Then he grew angry, stood up, took his club, pounded
Speaker 2: the ground with it, and asked whether they wanted to
Speaker 2: take the food from his mouth with the blueberries they
Speaker 2: were blowing out at him from their clumsy blowpipes. Then
Speaker 2: he struck a few more blows, so that the hills
Speaker 2: and valleys round about trembled, and all the enemy flew
Speaker 2: up into the air like chaff. And that was the
Speaker 2: end of the war. When Murmur came back and asked
Speaker 2: for more work, the king was at a loss, for
Speaker 2: he had felt sure that now he was rid of him,
Speaker 2: So he knew of nothing better to do than to
Speaker 2: send him to the devil's place. Now you can go
Speaker 2: to the devil and fetch the tribute from him, said
Speaker 2: the king. Murmur. Gooseg went off with his knapsack on
Speaker 2: his back and his club over his shoulder, and he
Speaker 2: had soon reached the right spot. But when he got here,
Speaker 2: when he got there, the devil was away at a trial.
Speaker 2: There was no one home but his grandmother, and she
Speaker 2: said she had never yet heard anything about a tribute,
Speaker 2: and that he was to come back some other time. Yes, indeed,
Speaker 2: come again tomorrow, said he. I know that old excuse.
Speaker 2: But since he was there, he would stay there, for
Speaker 2: he had to take home the tribute, and he had
Speaker 2: plenty of time to wait. But when he had eaten
Speaker 2: all his provisions, he grew weary and again to mand
Speaker 2: it the tribute from the grandmother. You will get nothing
Speaker 2: from me, and that's as flat as the old fir
Speaker 2: tree outside, as fast, said the devil's grandmother. The fir
Speaker 2: tree stood in front of the gate to the devil's place,
Speaker 2: and it was so large that fifteen men could hardly
Speaker 2: girdle it with their arms. But Murmur climbed up into
Speaker 2: its top and bent and shook it to and fro
Speaker 2: as though it were a willow wand and then asked
Speaker 2: the devil's grandmother once more whether she would now pay
Speaker 2: him the tribute. So she did not dare to refuse
Speaker 2: any longer, and brought out as much money as he
Speaker 2: could possibly carry in his knapsack. Then he set out
Speaker 2: for home with the tribute. And now no sooner had
Speaker 2: he gone than the devil came home. And when he
Speaker 2: learned that Murmur had taken along a big bag of money,
Speaker 2: he first beat his grandmother and then hurried after Murmur
Speaker 2: and he soon caught up to him, for he ran
Speaker 2: over sticks and stones, and sometimes flew in between, while
Speaker 2: Murmur had to stick to the highway with his heavy knapsack.
Speaker 2: But with the devil at his heels, he began to
Speaker 2: run as fast as he could, and stretched out the
Speaker 2: club behind him to keep the devil from coming to
Speaker 2: close quarters. And thus they ran along, one behind the other,
Speaker 2: while Murmur held the shaft and the devil held the
Speaker 2: end of the club, until they reached a deep valley.
Speaker 2: There Murmur jumped from one mountain top to another, and
Speaker 2: the devil followed him so hotly that he ran into
Speaker 2: the club, fell down into the valley, and broke his foot,
Speaker 2: and there he lay. There's your tribute, said Murmur goose
Speaker 2: egg when he had reached the royal castle, and he
Speaker 2: flung down the knapsack full of money before the king,
Speaker 2: so that the whole castle tottered. The King thanked him
Speaker 2: kindly and promised him a good reward and a good
Speaker 2: character if he wanted it. But Murmur only wanted more
Speaker 2: work to do. What shall I do now, he asked.
Speaker 2: The King reflected for a while, and then said Murmur
Speaker 2: should travel to the hill troll who had robbed him
Speaker 2: of the sword of his ancestors. He lived in a
Speaker 2: castle by the sea, where no one ventured to go.
Speaker 2: Murmur was given a few cartloads of provision in his knapsack,
Speaker 2: and once more set out.
Speaker 1: Long.
Speaker 2: He wandered though overfield and wood, over hills and deep valleys,
Speaker 2: till he came to a great mountain where the troll
Speaker 2: lived who had robbed the king of the sword. But
Speaker 2: the troll was not out in the open, and the
Speaker 2: mountain was closed, so Murmur could not get to it.
Speaker 2: So he joined a party of stone breakers who were
Speaker 2: working at a mountain side, and worked along with them.
Speaker 2: They had never had such a helper for Murmur hewed
Speaker 2: away at the rocks till they burst, and stone boulders
Speaker 2: as large as houses came rolling down. But when he
Speaker 2: was about to rest and eat up the first cartload
Speaker 2: of his provisions, it had already been eaten up. I
Speaker 2: have a good appetite myself, said Murmur, But whoever got
Speaker 2: hold of it has an even better one, for he
Speaker 2: has eaten up the bones as well. Thus it went
Speaker 2: the first day, and the second was no better. On
Speaker 2: the third day he went to work again and took
Speaker 2: along the third cartload, lay down beside it and pretended
Speaker 2: to be sleeping. Then a troll with seven heads came
Speaker 2: out of the hill, began to smack his lips and
Speaker 2: eat of his provisions. Now the table is set, so
Speaker 2: now I am going to eat, said he. First, we'll
Speaker 2: see about that, said Murmur, and hewed away at the
Speaker 2: troll so that the heads flew from his body. Then
Speaker 2: he went into the hill out of which the troll
Speaker 2: had come, and inside stood a horse eating out of
Speaker 2: a barrel of glowing ashes, while behind him stood a
Speaker 2: barrel filled with oats. Why don't you eat out of
Speaker 2: the barrel of oats, asked Murmur. GOOSEG because I cannot
Speaker 2: turn around, said the horse. I will turn you around,
Speaker 2: said Murmur. GOOSEG. Tear off my head instead, pleaded the horse.
Speaker 2: Murmur did so, and the horse turned into a fine
Speaker 2: looking man. He said that he had been enchanted and
Speaker 2: turned into a horse by the troll. Then he helped
Speaker 2: Murmur look for the sword, which the troll had hidden
Speaker 2: under the bed. But in the bed lay the troll's grandmother,
Speaker 2: and she was snoring. They went home by water, and
Speaker 2: just as they sailed off, the old troll grandmother came
Speaker 2: after them, but she could not get at them. Hence
Speaker 2: she commenced to drink, so that the water went down
Speaker 2: and grew lower. But at last she could not drink
Speaker 2: up the whole sea, and so she burst. When they
Speaker 2: came ashore, Murmur sent to the king and had him
Speaker 2: told to have the sword fetched. But though the king
Speaker 2: sent four horses, they could not move it from the spot.
Speaker 2: He sent eight, he sent twelve, but the sword remained
Speaker 2: where it was and could not be moved from the
Speaker 2: spot by any means. Then Murmur goose took it up
Speaker 2: and carried it alone. The king could not believe his
Speaker 2: eyes when he saw Murmur once more, but he was
Speaker 2: very friendly and promised him gold and green forests. But
Speaker 2: when Murmur asked for more work, he told him to
Speaker 2: travel to his troll's castle, where no one dared to go,
Speaker 2: and remained there until he had built a bridge across
Speaker 2: the sound so that people could cross. If he could
Speaker 2: do that, he would reward him. Well, Yes, he would
Speaker 2: even give him his daughter, said the king. He would
Speaker 2: attend to it, said Murmur. Yet no human being had
Speaker 2: ever returned thence alive. All who had gotten so far
Speaker 2: lay on the ground, dead and crushed to a jelly,
Speaker 2: and the king thought when sending him, when sending him there,
Speaker 2: that he would never see him again. But Murmur set out.
Speaker 2: He took with him his knapsack full of provisions and
Speaker 2: a properly turned and twisted block of pine wood, as
Speaker 2: well as an axe, a wedge, and some wooden chips.
Speaker 2: When he reached the sound, the river was full of
Speaker 2: drifting ice, and it roared like a waterfall. But he
Speaker 2: planted his legs firmly on the ground and waded along
Speaker 2: until he got across. When he had warmed himself and
Speaker 2: satisfied his hunger, he wanted to sleep. But a tumult
Speaker 2: and a rumbling started, as though the whole castle were
Speaker 2: to be to turned upside down. The gate flew wide open,
Speaker 2: and Murmur saw nothing but a pair of yawning jaws
Speaker 2: that reached out from the threshold to the top of
Speaker 2: the door. Let's see who you may be. Perhaps you
Speaker 2: are an old friend of mine, said Murmur, and sure
Speaker 2: enough it was master Devil. Then they played cards together.
Speaker 2: The devil would gladly have won back some of the
Speaker 2: tribute Murmur had forced from his grandmother for the king.
Speaker 2: Yet no matter how he played, Murmur always won, for
Speaker 2: he made a cross on the cards. And after he
Speaker 2: had won all the devil had with him, the latter
Speaker 2: had to give him some of the gold and silver
Speaker 2: that was in the castle. In the midst of their game,
Speaker 2: the fire went out, so that they could no longer
Speaker 2: tell the cards apart. Now we must split wood, said Murmur.
Speaker 2: He hewed into the block of pinewood with his axe and
Speaker 2: drove in the wedge, but the tree stump was tough
Speaker 2: and would not split at once, though Murmur gave himself
Speaker 2: all manner of pains. You are supposed to be strong,
Speaker 2: said the devil. Spit on your hands, slap in your
Speaker 2: claws here, and pull the block apart, so that I
Speaker 2: can see what you can do. The devil obediently thrushed
Speaker 2: both hands into the split and tore and clawed with
Speaker 2: all his might. But suddenly Murmur goose egg knocked out
Speaker 2: the wedge, and there the devil was caught in a
Speaker 2: vice while Murmur belabored his back with the axe. The
Speaker 2: devil wailed and begged Murmur to let him go, but
Speaker 2: Murmur would hear nothing of it until he had promised
Speaker 2: never to come back and make a nuisance of himself again.
Speaker 2: Besides that, he had to to build a bridge over
Speaker 2: the sound on which one could go back and forth
Speaker 2: at all seasons of the year. And the bridge was
Speaker 2: to be completed immediately after the breaking up of the
Speaker 2: ice drift. Alas said the devil. But there was nothing
Speaker 2: for it but to promise if he wished to go free.
Speaker 2: Yet he made one condition, that was that he was
Speaker 2: to have the first soul that crossed the bridge as
Speaker 2: a sound toll. He could have it, said Murmur. Then
Speaker 2: he let the devil out and he ran straight home.
Speaker 2: But Murmur lay down and slept until far into the
Speaker 2: following day. Then the king came to see whether Murmur
Speaker 2: gooseg were lying crushed on the ground or had merely
Speaker 2: been badly beaten. He had to wade through piles of
Speaker 2: money before he could reach the bed. The money was
Speaker 2: stacked up high along the walls in heaps and bags,
Speaker 2: and Murmur lay in the bed and snored. May Heaven
Speaker 2: help me and my daughter, cried the king when he
Speaker 2: saw that Murmur goose Egg was in the best of health. Yes,
Speaker 2: and no one could deny that everything had been well,
Speaker 2: And thoroughly done, said the king, But there could be
Speaker 2: no talk of marriage as long as the bridge had
Speaker 2: not been built. Then one day the bridge was finished,
Speaker 2: and on it stood the devil, ready to collect that
Speaker 2: whole promise to him. Murmur goose Egg wanted the king
Speaker 2: to be the first to try the bridge with him,
Speaker 2: but the King had no mind to do so. Therefore
Speaker 2: Murmur himself met mount to the horse and swung up
Speaker 2: the fat dairy maid from the castle before him on
Speaker 2: the saddle bow. She looked almost like a gigantic block
Speaker 2: of wood, and dashed across the bridge with her, so
Speaker 2: that the planks fairly thundered. Where is my sound hole?
Speaker 2: Where is the soul? Cried the devil, sitting in this
Speaker 2: block of wood. If you want her, you must spit
Speaker 2: on your hands and catch hold of her, said Murmur
Speaker 2: goose Egg. No, thank you. If she does not catch
Speaker 2: hold of me, then I'll certainly not catch hold of her,
Speaker 2: said the devil. You caught me in a vice once,
Speaker 2: but you can't fool me a second time, said he,
Speaker 2: and flew straight home to his grandmother. And since then
Speaker 2: nothing more has been heard or seen of him, But
Speaker 2: Murmur goose Egg hurried back to the castle and asked
Speaker 2: for the reward the king had promised him. And when
Speaker 2: the king hesitated and began to make all sorts of
Speaker 2: excuses in order not to have to keep his promise,
Speaker 2: Murmur said it would be best to have a substantial
Speaker 2: knapsack full of provisions made ready, since now he Murmur,
Speaker 2: was going to take his reward himself. This the king did,
Speaker 2: and when the knapsack was ready, Murmur took the king
Speaker 2: along with him in front of the castle and gave
Speaker 2: him a proper shove, so that he flew high up
Speaker 2: into the air, and he threw the knapsack up after him,
Speaker 2: so that he would not be left altogether without provisions.
Speaker 2: And he has not come down yet. Then he, together
Speaker 2: with the knapsack, is floating between heaven and Earth this
Speaker 2: very day. The end Murmur goose egg. Once upon a
Speaker 2: time there were five women who were standing in a
Speaker 2: field mowing. Heaven had not given a single one of
Speaker 2: them a child, and each of them wanted to have one.
Speaker 2: And suddenly they saw a goose egg of quite unheard
Speaker 2: of sighs, well nigh as large as a man's head.
Speaker 2: I saw it first, said the one I saw it
Speaker 2: at the same time that you did. Insisted another. But
Speaker 2: I want it, for I saw it first of all,
Speaker 2: maintained a third. And thus they went on and fought
Speaker 2: so about the egg that they nearly came to blows.
Speaker 2: Finally they agreed that it should be long to all
Speaker 2: five of them, and that all of them should sit
Speaker 2: on it as a goose would do, and hatch out
Speaker 2: the little gosling. The first remained sitting on the egg
Speaker 2: for eight days and hatched and did not move or
Speaker 2: do a thing, And during this time the rest had
Speaker 2: to feed her and themselves as well. One of them
Speaker 2: grew angry because of this and scolded, you did not
Speaker 2: crawl out of the egg either, before you could cry peep,
Speaker 2: said the one who was sitting on the egg and hatching.
Speaker 2: Yet I almost believe that a human child is going
Speaker 2: to slip out of the egg, for something is murmuring
Speaker 2: inside of it without ever stopping herring and mush, porridge
Speaker 2: and milk, said she, And now you can sit on
Speaker 2: it for eight days while we bring you food. When
Speaker 2: the fifth day of the eight had passed, it was
Speaker 2: plain to her that there was a child in the egg,
Speaker 2: which kept on calling herring and mush, porridge and milk.
Speaker 2: And so she punched a hole in the egg, and
Speaker 2: instead of a gosling, out came a child, And it
Speaker 2: was quite disgustingly homely, with a big head and a
Speaker 2: small body. And no sooner had it crawled out than
Speaker 2: it began to cry herring and mush, porridge and milk.
Speaker 2: So they named the child Murmur Goose Egg. In spite
Speaker 2: of the child's homeliness, the women at first took a
Speaker 2: great deal of pleasure in him, but before long he
Speaker 2: grew so greedy that he devoured everything they had. When
Speaker 2: they cooked a dish of mush or a potful of
Speaker 2: porridge that was to do for all six of them,
Speaker 2: the child swallowed it all by himself, so they did
Speaker 2: not want to keep him any longer. I have not
Speaker 2: had a single full meal since the changeling crawled out,
Speaker 2: said one of them. And when Murmur gooseg heard that,
Speaker 2: and the rest agreed, he said that he would gladly
Speaker 2: go his own gait, for if they had no need
Speaker 2: of him, then he had no need of them. And
Speaker 2: with that he went off. Finally he came to a
Speaker 2: farmstead that lay in a rocky section and asked for work. Yes,
Speaker 2: they needed a workman, and the master told him to
Speaker 2: gather up the stones in the field. Then murmur gooseg
Speaker 2: gathered up the stones in the field. He picked up
Speaker 2: some that were so large that a number of horses
Speaker 2: could not have dragged them, and large and small one
Speaker 2: and all. He put them in his pocket. Before long
Speaker 2: he had finished his work and wanted to know what
Speaker 2: he was to do next. You have picked up the
Speaker 2: stones in the field, said his master. You cannot possibly
Speaker 2: have finished before you have really begun. But murmur Goose
Speaker 2: emptied his pockets and threw the stones on a pile.
Speaker 2: Then his master saw that he had finished his work,
Speaker 2: and that one would have to handle such a strong
Speaker 2: fellow with kid gloves, So he told him to come
Speaker 2: in and eat. That suited murmur goose egg. He ate
Speaker 2: up everything that was to have supplied the master and
Speaker 2: his family and the help, and then he was only
Speaker 2: half satisfied. He was really a splendid worker, but a
Speaker 2: dangerous eater, like a bottomless cask, said the peasant. Such
Speaker 2: a serving man could eat up a poor peasant house
Speaker 2: and ground before he noticed it. Said he he had
Speaker 2: no more work for him. And the best thing to
Speaker 2: do would be to go to the King's castle. So
Speaker 2: murmur Gooseg went to the king and was at once
Speaker 2: given a place, and there was enough to eat and
Speaker 2: drink in the castle. He was to be the errand
Speaker 2: boy and help the maids fetch wood and water, and
Speaker 2: do other odd jobs. So he asked what he was
Speaker 2: to do first, for the time being, He could chop firewood,
Speaker 2: said they. So murmur Gooseg began to chop firewood and
Speaker 2: hewed to the line in such fashion that the chips
Speaker 2: fairly flew. Before long he had chopped up all that
Speaker 2: there was kindling wood and building wood, beams and boards.
Speaker 2: And when he was through with it, he came and
Speaker 2: asked what he was to do. Now, You can finish
Speaker 2: chopping the firewood, said they. There is none left, said
Speaker 2: murmur Goosegg. That could not be possible, said the superintendent,
Speaker 2: and looked into the woodpin. Yes, indeed, murmur Goosegg had
Speaker 2: chopped up everything large and small, beams and boards. That
Speaker 2: was very bad. And therefore the superintendent said that murmur
Speaker 2: Gooseg should have nothing to eat until he had chopped
Speaker 2: down just as much wood in the forest as he
Speaker 2: had just chopped up for firewood. Then Murmur gooseg went
Speaker 2: into the smithy and had the smith make an iron
Speaker 2: axe of five hundred weights. With that, he went into
Speaker 2: the forest and began to chop. He chopped down big
Speaker 2: pine and fir trees as thick as masts, and all
Speaker 2: that he found on the king's ground, as well as
Speaker 2: what he had found on that of his neighbors. He
Speaker 2: chopped down big pine and fir trees as thick as masts,
Speaker 2: and all that he found on the King's ground, as
Speaker 2: well as what he found on that of his neighbors.
Speaker 2: But he cut off neither the branches nor the tree tops,
Speaker 2: so that all lay there as though felled by the storm.
Speaker 2: Then he loaded a sizeable stack on the sled and
Speaker 2: put to the horses. They could not move the load
Speaker 2: from the spot, and when he took them by the
Speaker 2: heads in order to pull them forward, he tore off
Speaker 2: their heads. Oh, he unharnessed them and left them lying
Speaker 2: in the field, and put himself to the sled and
Speaker 2: went off alone with the load. When he came to
Speaker 2: the king's castle, there stood the King with the master
Speaker 2: carpenter in the entrance, and they were ready to give
Speaker 2: him a warm reception because of the destruction he had walked,
Speaker 2: because of the destruction he had wrought in the forest.
Speaker 2: For the master carpenter had been there and had seen
Speaker 2: the havoc he made. But when Murmur gouseag came along
Speaker 2: with half the forest, the king grew frightened as well
Speaker 2: as angry, and he thought that if Murmur was so strong,
Speaker 2: it would be best to handle him with care. Why
Speaker 2: you are a splendid workman, said the king, But tell
Speaker 2: me how much do you really eat at once? He continued,
Speaker 2: for I am sure you are hungry. If he were
Speaker 2: to have enough porridge, they would have to take twelve
Speaker 2: tons of meal to make it. But after he had
Speaker 2: eaten that, then he could wait. Awhile, said Murmur, goose egg.
Speaker 2: It took some time before so much porridge could be prepared,
Speaker 2: and in the meantime Murmur was to carry wood into
Speaker 2: the kitchen. So he piled the whole load of wood
Speaker 2: on a sled. But when he drove it through the door,
Speaker 2: he did not go to work about it very gently.
Speaker 2: The house nearly broke from its joints, and he well
Speaker 2: nigh tore down the entire castle. When at last dinner
Speaker 2: was ready, they sent him out into the field to
Speaker 2: call the help. He called called so loudly that hill
Speaker 2: and vale re echoed the sound. But still the people
Speaker 2: did not come quick enough to suit him. So he
Speaker 2: picked a quarrel with them and killed twelve. You killed
Speaker 2: twelve of my people, and you eat for twelve times
Speaker 2: twelve of them. But how many men's work can you do?
Speaker 2: Asked the king. I do the work of twelve times
Speaker 2: twelve two, said Murmur. When he had eaten, he was
Speaker 2: to go to the barn and thresh. So he pulled
Speaker 2: the beam out of the roof tree and made a
Speaker 2: flail out of it, And when the roof threatened to
Speaker 2: fall in, he took a pine tree with all its
Speaker 2: boughs and branches and set it up in place of
Speaker 2: the roof beam. He then threshed corn and hay and
Speaker 2: straw all together, and it seemed as though a cloud
Speaker 2: hung over the royal castle. When Murmur Gooseg had nearly
Speaker 2: finished thrashing, the enemy broke into the land and war began.
Speaker 2: Then the king told him to gather people about him
Speaker 2: and go to meet the foe and do battle with him,
Speaker 2: For he thought the enemy would probably kill him. No,
Speaker 2: said Murmur Gooseg. He did not want to have the
Speaker 2: king's people killed. He would see that he dealt with
Speaker 2: the enemy himself. All the better, thought the king. Then
Speaker 2: I am sure to get rid of him. But he
Speaker 2: would need a proper club, said Murmur. So they sent
Speaker 2: to the smith, and he forged a club of two
Speaker 2: hundred weights. That would only do for a nutcracker, said
Speaker 2: Murmur Gooseg. So he forged another that weighed six hundred weights,
Speaker 2: And that would do to hammer shoes with, said Murmur Gooseg.
Speaker 2: But the smith told him that he and all his
Speaker 2: workmen together could not forge a larger one. Then Murmur
Speaker 2: Gooseg went to the smithy himself and forged himself a
Speaker 2: club of thirty hundred weights. And it would have taken
Speaker 2: a hundred men just to turn it around on the anvil.
Speaker 2: This might do at a pinch, said Murmur. Then he
Speaker 2: wanted a knapsack with provisions. It was sewn together out
Speaker 2: of fifteen ox skins and stuffed full of provisions. And
Speaker 2: then Murmur wandered down the hill with the nap sack
Speaker 2: on his back and the club over his shoulder. When
Speaker 2: he came near enough for the soldiers to see him,
Speaker 2: they sent to ask whether he had a mind to
Speaker 2: attack them. Just wait until I have eaten, said Murmur,
Speaker 2: and sat him down behind his knapsack to eat. But
Speaker 2: the enemy would not wait and began to fire at him,
Speaker 2: and it fairly rained and hailed musket balls all around Murmur.
Speaker 2: I don't care a fig for these blueberries, said Murmur.
Speaker 2: Gooseg and feasted on quite at ease. Neither lead nor
Speaker 2: iron could wound him, and his knapsack stood before him
Speaker 2: and caught the bullets like a wall. Then the enemy
Speaker 2: began to throw bombs at him and shoot him with
Speaker 2: a cannon. He hardly moved when he was strang. Oh
Speaker 2: that's of no account, said he. But then a bomb
Speaker 2: flew into his windpipe. Fuh, said he, and spat it
Speaker 2: out again. And then came a chain bullet and fell
Speaker 2: into his butterplate, and another tore away the bit of
Speaker 2: bread from between his fingers. Then he grew angry, stood up,
Speaker 2: took his club, pounded the ground with it, and asked
Speaker 2: whether they wanted to take the food from his mouth
Speaker 2: with the blueberries they were blowing out at him from
Speaker 2: their clumsy blowpipes. Then he struck a few more blows,
Speaker 2: so that the hills and valleys round about trembled, and
Speaker 2: all the enemy flew up into the air like chaff.
Speaker 2: And that was the end of the war. When Murmur
Speaker 2: came back and asked for more work, the king was
Speaker 2: at a loss, for he had felt sure that now
Speaker 2: he was rid of him. So he knew of nothing
Speaker 2: better to do than to send him to the devil's place.
Speaker 2: Now you can go to the devil and fetch the
Speaker 2: tribute from him, said the king. Murmur. Gooseg went off
Speaker 2: with his knapsack on his back and his club over
Speaker 2: his shoulder, and he had soon reached the right spot.
Speaker 2: But when he got here, when he got there, the
Speaker 2: devil was away at a trial. There was no one
Speaker 2: home but his grandmother, and she said she had never
Speaker 2: yet heard anything about a tribute, and that he was
Speaker 2: to come back some other time. Yes, indeed, come again tomorrow,
Speaker 2: said he. I know that old excuse. But since he
Speaker 2: was there, he would stay there, for he had to
Speaker 2: take home the tribute, and he had plenty of time
Speaker 2: to wait. But when he had eaten all his provisions,
Speaker 2: he grew weary and again demand it the tribute from
Speaker 2: the grandmother. You will get nothing from me. And that's
Speaker 2: as flat as the old fir tree outside, as fast
Speaker 2: said the Devil's grandmother. The fir tree stood in front
Speaker 2: of the gate to the Devil's place, and it was
Speaker 2: so large that fifteen men could hardly girdle it with
Speaker 2: their arms. But Murmur climbed up into its top and
Speaker 2: bent and shook it to and fro as though it
Speaker 2: were a willow wand and then asked the devil's grandmother
Speaker 2: once more more whether she would now pay him the tribute.
Speaker 2: So she did not dare to refuse any longer, and
Speaker 2: brought out as much money as he could possibly carry
Speaker 2: in his knapsack. Then he set out for home with
Speaker 2: the tribute. And now no sooner had he gone than
Speaker 2: the Devil came home. And when he learned that Murmur
Speaker 2: had taken along a big bag of money, he first
Speaker 2: beat his grandmother and then hurried after Murmur, and he
Speaker 2: soon caught up to him, for he ran over sticks
Speaker 2: and stones and sometimes flew in between, while Murmur had
Speaker 2: to stick to the highway with his heavy knapsack. But
Speaker 2: with the Devil at his heels, he began to run
Speaker 2: as fast as he could, and stretched out the club
Speaker 2: behind him to keep the devil from coming to close quarters.
Speaker 2: And thus they ran along, one behind the other, while
Speaker 2: Murmur held the shaft and the devil held the end
Speaker 2: of the club, until they reached a deep valley. There
Speaker 2: Murmur jumped from one mountain top to another, and the
Speaker 2: devil followed him so hotly that he ran into the club,
Speaker 2: fell down into the valley, and broke his foot, and
Speaker 2: there he lay. There's your tribute, said Murmur. Gooseg when
Speaker 2: he had reached the royal castle, and he flung down
Speaker 2: the knapsack full of money before the king, so that
Speaker 2: the whole castle tottered. The King thanked him kindly and
Speaker 2: promised him a good reward and a good character if
Speaker 2: he wanted it. But Murmur only wanted more work to do.
Speaker 2: What shall I do now, he asked. The King reflected
Speaker 2: for a while, and then said Murmur should travel to
Speaker 2: the hill troll who had robbed him of the sword
Speaker 2: of his ancestors. He lived in a castle by the sea,
Speaker 2: where no one ventured to go. Murmur was given a
Speaker 2: few cartloads of provision in his knapsack, and once more
Speaker 2: set out long. He wandered though over field and wood,
Speaker 2: over hills and deep valleys, till he came to a
Speaker 2: great mountain where the troll lived who had robbed the
Speaker 2: King of the sword. But the troll was not out
Speaker 2: in the open, and the mountain was closed, so Murmur
Speaker 2: could not get to it. So he joined a party
Speaker 2: of stone breakers who were working at a mountain side,
Speaker 2: and worked along with them. They had never had such
Speaker 2: a helper, for Murmur hewed away at the rocks till
Speaker 2: they burst, and stone boulders as large as houses came
Speaker 2: rolling down. But when he was about to rest and
Speaker 2: eat up the first cartload of his provisions, it had
Speaker 2: already been eaten up. I have a good appetite myself,
Speaker 2: said Murmur, But whoever got hold of it has an
Speaker 2: even better one, for he has eaten up the bones
Speaker 2: as well. Thus it went the first day, and the
Speaker 2: second was no better. On the third day, he went
Speaker 2: to work again and took along the third cartload, lay
Speaker 2: down beside it and pretended to be sleeping. Then a
Speaker 2: troll with seven heads came out of the hill, began
Speaker 2: to smack his lips and eat of his provisions. Now
Speaker 2: the table is set so now I am going to eat,
Speaker 2: said he. First, we'll see about that, said Murmur, and
Speaker 2: hewed away at the troll so that the heads flew
Speaker 2: from his body. Then he went into the hill out
Speaker 2: of which the troll had come, and inside stood a
Speaker 2: horse eating out of a barrel of glowing ashes, while
Speaker 2: behind him stood a barrel filled with oats. Why don't
Speaker 2: you eat out of the barrel of oats, asked Murmur.
Speaker 2: GOOSEG because I cannot turn around, said the horse. I
Speaker 2: will turn you around, said Murmur. GOOSEG. Tear off my
Speaker 2: head instead, pleaded the horse. Murmur did so, and the
Speaker 2: horse turned into a fine looking man. He said that
Speaker 2: he had been enchanted and turned into a horse by
Speaker 2: the troll. Then he helped Murmur look for the sword,
Speaker 2: which the troll had hidden under the bed. But in
Speaker 2: the bed lay the troll's grandmother, and she was snoring.
Speaker 2: They went home by water, and just as they sailed off,
Speaker 2: the old troll grandmother came after them, but she could
Speaker 2: not get at them. Hence she commenced to drink, so
Speaker 2: that the water went down and grew lower. But at
Speaker 2: last she could not drink up the whole sea, and
Speaker 2: so she burst. When they came ashore, Murmur sent to
Speaker 2: the king and had him told to have the sword fetched.
Speaker 2: But though the king sent four horses, they could not
Speaker 2: move it from the spot. He sent eight, he sent twelve,
Speaker 2: but the sword remained where it was and could not
Speaker 2: be moved from the spot by any means. Then Murmur
Speaker 2: gooseg took it up and carried it alone. The king
Speaker 2: could not believe his eyes when he saw Murmur once more,
Speaker 2: but he was very friendly and promised him gold and
Speaker 2: green forests. But when Murmur asked for more work, he
Speaker 2: told him to travel to his troll's castle, where no
Speaker 2: one dared to go, and remained there until he had
Speaker 2: built a bridge across the sound.